“We don’t think there is anything more important . . . than to protect our young people.”STATE SENATE MAJORITY LEADER JOSEPH BRUNO ALBANY – Republican lawmakers yesterday introduced a package of a dozen far-reaching bills aimed at making school buses safer for kids.

Key provisions of the legislation would close a shocking legal loophole that lets people who lose their licenses for DWI continue to operate school buses; require that a bus driver’s license be yanked if he or she tests positive for drugs or alcohol, and make drivers involved in accidents involving injuries take alcohol-breath tests.

State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer) said the bus-safety measures are a top priority in the GOP-controlled Senate.

“We don’t think there is anything more important … than to protect our young people,” Bruno said.

“They’ve got to get there, they’ve got to get home, and they’ve got to do it safely.”

He added: “We’re hearing too many reports about bus drivers who don’t provide adequate supervision, and drivers who are impaired, unsafe or abusive.”

Addressing one key safety issue, Bruno said he did not propose making seat-belt use mandatory on school buses or requiring students to be seated because he feared the belts could be used by students as weapons and because of the potential cost to carriers.

One of the Senate bills would bar drivers from operating school buses while their licenses are suspended for driving drunk or under the influence of drugs.

“It is imperative that we prevent drivers with dangerous accident records or drunken-driving behavior from operating the school buses,” said state Sen. Roy Goodman (R-Manhattan), the sponsor of that bill.

Under current law, a person convicted of DWI can petition a judge for permission to continue driving for work.

The loophole was closed for taxi drivers in 1993.

Other measures will require that all school buses used in the state after 2002 have reflectors and give the state Department of Motor Vehicles the power to deny a bus company’s application if the DMV believes the company is trying to make an end run around a previous suspension under a different business name.

Many of the initiatives have been passed in previous years by the Senate, but died in the Democratic-controlled state Assembly.

A spokesman for the Assembly would not commit to backing Bruno’s specific bills, but said: “This is an extremely important issue that we intend to deal with this session.”

Bruno’s plan quickly won the support of the state School Boards Association.

“The legislation proposed by the Senate will help give school boards the tools necessary to protect children,” said Timothy Kremer, executive director of the association.